VFP eNews: Military Build Up, Standing Rock, Member Highlights!

 

3/10/2017 6:00 PM

Veterans For Peace

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	Friday, March 10th Veterans For Peace Rejects President Trump's Military Build Up The President plans to increase Pentagon spending by $54 billion, claiming that the U.S. military is broken and depleted. Mr. Trump recently spoke to service members aboard the new $13 billion USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier reiterating his call for more spending. Ironically the carrier is a real-life example of why more spending is not needed. U.S. military capabilities far outstrip all other nations. The carrier is an addition to a navy that  was already unmatched by all others. With ten carriers, the U.S. has more than all other nations combined and the carriers are larger, providing more deck space per carrier than other nations. The U.S. Navy has thousands of aircraft, making it the second largest air force in the world behind the U.S. Air Force. The U.S. already spends almost three times what any other country spends on defense and more than the next nine countries combined. U.S. global policy of endless war and filling the coffers of an already bloated military budget has merged into a global response of violence. We need a global response that meets human needs and aspirations. Militarization is not the foundation on which to build peace. U.S. efforts have proven that war is the breeding ground for more violence and hatred. We need increased spending in social programs here at home, including significant resources dedicated to our veterans who are suffering devastating effects as a result of their service. We need an increase in diplomacy to end the wars. We need to dedicate resources to helping bring relief to the refugee crisis resulting from endless war. We, as veterans, know that peace is possible, but only if resources are directed towards caring for one another, not perpetuating militarization across the globe. Read Full Statement Back to Top VFP Marches For Standing Rock in D.C.  Leaders at Standing Rock called for solidarity actions around the country and around the globe to protest the recent order and for a large demonstration on Washington on March 10.  Veterans For Peace joined the march in Washington with a contingent of veterans. VFP Member, Nate Goldshlag said about 10,000 people demonstrated in DC today supporting the Standing Rock Sioux in their fight against DAPL. See his pictures and videos! Also be sure to check out our Standing Rock page for ongoing ways to take action! Back to Top Boston Veterans Denied Entry In St. Patrick's Day Parade From VFP Member Pat Scanlon: There are two veterans organizations prohibited from marching in the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade this year. One group because they dare to exhibit a tiny rainbow flag to identify who they are as individuals. The second group is being denied because they work for Peace and Peaceful resolution of conflict. Veterans For Peace have also been denied to walk in the parade on March 19. “It is shameful”, stated Scanlon. “The City of Boston should take back this parade and truly make it inclusive for all, regardless if you are gay or work for peace”. Read the Full Report Back to Top VFP Endorses International Days of Action Against War and Islamophobia Over the last 16 years since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, rising Islamophobia has come hand-in-hand with escalating U.S.-led wars and occupations in the Middle East and North Africa. The Trump administration is now attempting to impose an inhumane travel and refugee ban on seven Muslim countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — all targets of U.S. military attack or sanctions by the current and previous administrations. All these point to the fact that we are moving toward another, more disastrous, catastrophe in the Middle East. We call on all peace loving people throughout the world to unite and take action during the International Days of Action (March 11-19) against U.S. intervention in Syria and throughout the Middle East, against Islamophobia, and against the refugee Travel Ban. See More Information! Back to Top Shut Down Creech in April 2017! Join actvists April 23 - April 29, 2017 at Creech Air Force Base, Indian Springs, Nevada for a 2nd national mobilization of nonviolent resistance to shut down killer drone operations in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Pakistan,Yemen, Somalia and everywhere. In the last two years we had nearly 150 activists each year join us from 20 different states across the country, including over 50 veterans. In a very successful resistance action, we were able to interrupt business as usual for nearly an hour, with 34 activists ultimately arrested. Let's make SHUT DOWN CREECH 2017 an even more powerful stance against illegal drone killing. Please join us, and help spread the word. Together we are PEACE! Back to Top VFP Winter Newsletter Now Available Online! Our Winter Newsletter is now online!  Stories Include: Prospects for Peace under a New Commander-in-Chief Privatization of the V.A. International Veterans Conference Chapter Reports Standing Rock Updates on the Iraq Water Project Book Reviews Poetry The VFP Newsletter is published 3 times each year for members and donors. It contains extensive chapter reports from around the country, poetry and book reviews as well as articles on current affairs. If you are not currently receiving our newsletter and would like to, contact Shelly Rockett  Back to Top Do You Have a Great Resource? We want to hear from you! We are hoping to include a helpful resource in our weekly VFP E-News   Do you have a  resource that you have found useful in your work for peace?  A great movie?  Good guides to build organizing skills?  Let us know!  Please send Resources that can be accessed online or are available to folks across the country. Email Colleen: colleen@veteransforpeace.org Back to Top		In This Issue: Veterans For Peace Rejects President Trump's Military Build Up Petition: Fund People's Needs, Not Trump's Military Greed VFP Marches for Standing Rock in Washington D.C. Save the Date!  VFP Annual Convention! Boston Veterans Denied Entry in St. Patrick's Day Parade Des Moines VFP Holds Vigil at New Recruitment Center 50th Anniversary of "Beyond Vietnam" Speech VFP Endorces National Day of Action Against War and Islamophobia Shut Down Creech in April 2017! VFP Chapter 67-Long Beach Zinn Fund Final Report Get Your VFP Hoodie! Save the Dates: Upcoming Events Petition: Fund People's Needs, Not Trump's Military Greed Trump’s misdirected White House is putting military profiteering before public needs and putting future generations at risk. Trump’s proposed budget would slash social services that we depend on to raise the military budget by 10%. The United States already spends more on its military than the next 7 countries combined." Sign the United for Peace and Justice petition to call for funds to be spent on human needs here at home, not military and war-making abroad. Sign the petition! Tell Democrats and Republicans in Congress that we value and support a system that prioritizes public needs over wars and corporate profiteers. Sign the petition! Back to Top Save the Date!  VFP Annual Convention The VFP Annual Convention is titled "Education Not Militarization" and will be held in Chicago, Aug 9-13 at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago. Tabling/ Registration begin on Wednesday, August 9, 2017 Workshops will be held on Thu/Fri (Aug 10-11th) Saturday - business meeting/banquet Sunday:  Late concert More details to follow! National office contact is Shelly Rockett Back to Top Des Moines VFP Hold Vigil at New Recruiting Center Veteran for Peace Chapter 163 in Des Moines, Iowa joined the local Catholic Worker to hold a silent vigil outside the entrance of a new National Guard Recruiting Center at the Jordan Creek Town Center in West Des Moines. VFP members Ed Bloomer, Gill Landolt and Al Burny held the VFP banner and Gil held a hand made poster "IA National Guard Leave Our Kids Alone" (See photo above). Read the Full Story Back to Top 50th Anniversary of Beyond Vietnam Speech April 4, 2017 will be the 50th anniversary of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence.  In confronting the deeply rooted racism,  militarism and materialism of the United States,  Dr. King described the United States as the greatest purveyor of violence in the world. In honor of the 50th anniversary of the reading of Martin Luther King’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech, we are asking local VFP chapters to organize speech-reading events. Check out our website for helpful resources on how you and your chapter can host an event! Back to Top VFP Chapter 67-Long Beach Final Zinn Fund Report VFP Chapter 67 was a past recipient of the Howard Zinn Fund for Peace and Justice.  They recently submitted their final report.  Here is an excerpt: The overall goal of the project was to develop the skills and abilities of high school students in the Long Beach area to promote peace and justice. This project was built upon an existing Teen Memorial program. The specific objectives included expanding Peace Club groups in local high schools and building an alliance of Peace Clubs, developing student-led activities for peace and justice, and developing strong community networks to support youth empowerment. It has been a very positive and rewarding experience for many people working together to achieve the goals of this project. We have found it has been both profound and exhilarating as we educate, make new student friends, and continue to grow as community activists and peacemakers in the process. Read the Full Report! Back to Top Get Your VFP Hoodie! Show your VFP pride at winter actions, events, and meetings! Only $30!  Get one today! Front: VFP Logo Back: Eisenhower Quote -"I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity." Shop the VFP Store Today! Back to Top Save the Dates: Upcoming Events March 5-21 - Veterans For Peace Annual Trip to Vietnam March 11-19 - International Day of Action Against War and Islamophobia March 11 - Half Day VFP Retreat in Nashville: contact Joey King: jbkranger@aol.com April 4 - 50th Anniversary of MLK, Jr.'s "Beyond Vietnam" Speech April 7-9 - Global Network Conference: "Pivot Toward War: U.S. Missile Defense & the Weaponization of Space".  Huntsville, AL April 15 - Kellogg-Briand Pact Essay Contest Final Deadline April 23-29 - 3rd Annual Shut Down Creech in Las Vegas, NV Aug 9-13 - VFP Annual Convention-"Education Not Militarization", Chicago, IL.  There will be a concert the evening of the 13th, so plan to stay the evening of the 13th!  More details to follow soon! Back to Top

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 Lets Take Back Our Food System Join the Equal Exchange Action Forum

 

3/10/2017 6:53 PM

Equal Exchange needs you. We are taking a powerful, new step in building a
system that connects our worker-owners, producer partners, and you to
create a holistic democratic system. Equal Exchange is one of the most
successful and largest cooperatives in the country and one of the largest
Alternative Trade Organizations (ATO) in the world. As we celebrate our 30
year anniversary we are both proud of what we have accomplished and
concerned for the future of our food system, and our world.

In the wider food system, corporations control everything from seeds to
supply and prices, while relentlessly chipping away at the regulations that
inform and protect consumers. They fight feverishly to prevent us from
knowing if GMOs are present in our food. They continue to promote
production methods that hasten the warming of the planet—a present-day
threat to millions of small farmers and others around the world. And,
corporations count on consumers remaining unorganized to maintain the
status quo.

Equal Exchange has launched a new initiative called the Equal Exchange
Action Forum. This is Equal Exchange's new path that aims to build a
democratic food system owned by people not corporations. We wish to create
a system that values people over profit. To build an alternative to the
conventional economic system we need citizen involvement to succeed. Now
more than ever is the time to build solidarity in our current political
context.

We have had physical and virtual events across the Northeast and Midwest
and will continue to have more. Our Action Forum community spans four
different time zones and reaches as far as New Zealand, U.K., and India. We
have launched our online platform in which we have interactive discussions,
provide exclusive content for members, and members have the opportunity to
connect with each other to continue some of this work together. We are
enthusiastic about this new initiative and believe this Action Forum will
serve as a vehicle to work towards a just food system. You are truly
joining us in the beginning of pioneering this movement. Please join us in
realizing this dream. This work is not simple, it's not easy, but it is
necessary, and it cannot succeed without us all working together.

This summer Equal Exchange is hosting our first-ever People’s Food System
Summit (PFSS). This will be the first gathering of the entire Equal
Exchange community that connects all parts of our supply chain. Our goals
are to organize Action Forum members, farmer partners, and worker-owners
together in this physical space. We will be hosting workshops, a roastery
tour and cookout at our headquarters. We will make plans for how we can
organize to take back control of the food system, together.

This year we have begun to sow the seeds for a grassroots movement to build
a truly democratic food system, and we need your participation. If you
would like to the join Action Forum you can fill out your application at
this link :

http://equalexchange.coop/action-forum-application

You may also join us for our upcoming event at* Kickstand Cafe April 6th in
Arlington, Ma 630-8pm* in which we will have an engaging discussion on how
we can build a people's food system, together. Please RSVP at eeactionforum@
equalexchange.coop

--

*Danielle Robidoux*

*Action Forum Organizer(774)-776-7407*

*drobidoux@equalexchange.coop <drobidoux@equalexchange.coop>*

*[image: http://equalexchange.coop/actionforum]
<http://equalexchange.coop/actionforum>*
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From Veterans For Peace-U.S. - RUSSIA RELATIONS Where are we headed?-Build The Resistance

The East Bay Chapter of Veterans for Peace is co-sponsoring a forum on U.S. - RUSSIA RELATIONS Where are we headed? Saturday, March 11, 2017 -  1-5 pm Orinda Community Center, 28 Orinda Way, Orinda CA Mt. Diablo Peace & Justice Center and the Center for Citizen Initiatives presents A SPECIAL FORUM ON A VITAL ISSUE   U.S. - RUSSIA RELATIONS Where are we headed?   Russia Reality Check: Myths vs Facts What are the Dangers of Demonizing Russia? The New Cold War and Looming NeoMcCarthyism WHY WE MUST OPPOSE KREMLIN BAITING     KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Ray McGovern (former CIA analyst and Presidential briefer)   PANELISTS: Andrei Tsygankov, Professor and author, SFSU Sharon Tennison, Founder, Center for Citizen Initiatives Bernard Casey, former President, Kiev Chamber of Commerce Marjorie Cohn, Prof and author, former pres of National Lawyers Guild Norman Solomon, journalist, media critic, author and activist Saturday, March 11, 2017 from 1:00 - 5:00 PM Orinda Community Center, 28 Orinda Way Walking distance from Orinda BART Tickets: $12 Pre-registered / $15 at door $5 Students / $10 Peace Center Members Free parking or walk from Orinda BART Doors open at 12:30 CLICK HERE TO PRE-REGISTER   Veterans For Peace Rejects President Trump's Military Build Up and other VFP statements   NOTE: Our next East Bay Chapter meeting will be on the Third Saturday, March 18, to allow our members to march in the VFP contingent of the St Patricks Day Parade in SF on March 11, 2017.

Please Support HR 1473 Rep. Barbara Lee's new Bill to Block the Depl-Stand In Solidarity With Standing Rock

1

Please Support HR 1473 Rep. Barbara Lee's new Bill to Block the Depl

Fri Mar 10, 2017 10:51 am (PST) . Posted by:

"bonnie gorman" bonniegorman1

Congresswoman Barbara Lee Introduces Bipartisan Bill to Block the Deployment of Ground Troops in Syria Washington, D.C. – Today, following news that President Trump has deployed marine troops to Syria, Congresswoman Barbara Lee introduced a bipartisan bill that would prohibit the expansion of United States combat troops into Syria. Congresswoman Barbara Lee released the following statement upon the introduction of H.R. 1473, The Prohibit Expansion of U.S. Combat Troops into Syria Act: “For more than fifteen years, the U.S. has been engaged in an ever-expanding war in the Middle East. President Trump’s deployment of combat troops in Syria is the latest front in this endless war. In 2001, I was the lone member of Congress to vote against handing President Bush a blank check for war. Fifteen years later, this Authorization for the Use of Military Force is still being used to justify military actions around the globe, including this new deployment into Syria. “I strongly object to the White House’s decision to unilaterally place U.S. boots on the ground in Syria. President Trump’s action today shows the consequences of allowing military escalation to persist without Congressional oversight. We simply cannot allow this blank check to remain on the books. The Constitution is clear: Congress must debate, vote and authorize the use of military force in matters of war and peace. “The bill I am introducing today prohibits the Department of Defense from funding any attempt by the Administration to expand our presence in Syria by putting U.S. combat boots on the ground. It is our constitutional duty as Members of Congress to place a check on the Executive Branch in matters of war and peace. We owe it to our brave service members to live up to our constitutional duty. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in preventing this president from sending our troops into yet another unchecked, ill-advised war without a full and robust debate from Congress.” The text of the bill can be found here.

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David Swanson speaking April 13 on Never-Ending Wars

 

3/11/2017 3:21 PM

Marliyn Levin

To  act-ma 

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U.S. Never-Ending War in the Time of Trump and How to Stop It

When: Thursday, April 13, 2017, 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Where: Friends Meeting House • 5 Longfellow Park • Cambridge

Presentation by David Swanson followed by discussion and book signing.

David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is director of <http://worldbeyondwar.org/> WorldBeyondWar.org and campaign coordinator for <http://rootsaction.org/> RootsAction.org. Swanson's books include <http://warisalie.org/> War Is A Lie. He blogs at <http://davidswanson.org/> DavidSwanson.org and <http://warisacrime.org/> WarIsACrime.org. He hosts <http://davidswanson.org/taxonomy/term/41> Talk Nation Radio. He is a 2015, 2016, 2017 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee.

(Suggested donation $5.00)

Sponsor: United for Justice with Peace

<info@justicewithpeace.org> info@justicewithpeace.org <http://justicewithpeace.org/> justicewithpeace.org

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Trump's Global Policies: Russia, the world and implications for the peace movement-March 23

 

3/11/2017 4:54 PM

United for Justice with Peace

To  markin 

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Trump&#039;s Global Policies: Russia, the world and implications for the peace movement

When: Thursday, March 23, 2017, 7:00 am to 9:00 am

Where: Friends Meeting House • 5 Longfellow Park • Cambridge

presentation by Mark Solomon followed by discussion

The bizarre Russian controversy complete with charges of influencing the presidential election has diverted attention from the existential dangers of Trump's foreign policy.  Trump and his right wing advisor Steven Bannon are pushing an aggressive "America First" policy driven by near unimaginably destructive nuclear weapons.  There is increasing danger of conflict and war with China and North Korea that could result in massive destruction.

This presentation will analyze the political and strategic influences underlying Trump's global policies and will look at how the projected "reset" with Russia relates to those global objectives.   It will also consider the dangers inherent in liberal and centrist efforts to foment a new cold war with Russia.  All of these pressing threats need the immediate attention and action by peace activists.

Mark Solomon is professor of history emeritus at Simmons College and a former national co-chair of Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism.

Sponsored by United for Justice with Peace

more information: info@justicewithpeace.org or call 617 383 4857

Upcoming Events: 

International Women’s Day Pena (tonight)

 

3/11/2017 3:51 PM

Charlie Welch

To  act-ma@act-ma.org 

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PEÑA REBELDE
Join us at encuentro5 on Saturday, March 11, 2017 at 7:pm in commemoration and celebration of International Women their contributions, struggles and resistance against oppression!
9A Hamilton Pl. across from Park St. T station (Green and Red lines)

The earliest International Women’s Day (IWD) observed in the *USNA was in 1909 in New York in commemoration of the International Ladies Garment Workers strike of 1908. IWD (March 8) is a global day commemorating and celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women as well as their heroism and leadership in liberation and workers’ movements. However, over a century later (2017) in the most advanced industrial nation USNA, working women still do not receive “equal pay for equal work”.

For more information (617) 922-5744

¡Únase a la Peña del encuentro5 para conmemorar y celebrar el día Internacional de la mujer sus contribuciones, luchas y resistencia contra la opresión!
9A Hamilton Pl. Frente a la estación de Park St. T (líneas verde y roja)

El primer Día Internacional de la Mujer (IWD) observado en USNA (estados unidos de norte america) fue en 1909 en Nueva York en conmemoración de la huelga de los Trabajadores y su sindicato International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union ( ILGWU ) de 1908. IWD (8 de marzo) es un día global conmemorativo y celebrando las contribuciones sociales, económicas, culturales y Los logros políticos de las mujeres, así como su heroísmo y liderazgo en los movimientos obreros y de liberación. Sin embargo, más de un siglo después (2017) en la nación industrial más avanzada de USNA, las mujeres trabajadoras aún no reciben "salario igual por trabajo igual".

For more information/ Para mas información (617) 922-5744

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The Nighttime Is The ….-Fritz Lang’s Film Adaptation Of Clifford Odets’ “Clash By Night” (1952)-A Film Review

The Nighttime Is The ….-Fritz Lang’s Film Adaptation Of Clifford Odets’ “Clash By Night” (1952)-A Film Review

DVD Review

By Sandy Salmon

[Recently in this space we announced with the review of 1956’s Giant that that was the first film review by long time film critic Sam Lowell using the honorific emeritus- in short he had decided to put himself out to pasture. He will still provide his reviews but will no longer be the primary, or as in earlier times, the sole film critic here.

For now we will go with several reviewers starting with Sandy Salmon whose has had a by-line for years in the American Film Gazette. Good luck Sandy-Peter Paul Markin]    

Clash By Night, starring Barbara Stanwyck, Paul Douglas, Robert Ryan, Marilyn Monroe, directed by Fritz Lang, from the play by Clifford Odets, 1952

Sometimes a little gem of a film, a black and white film from the 1950s like the one under review here, Clash by Night, just kind of sneaks up on you. Frankly in all the years I have been reviewing films I was totally unaware of this beauty although I admit that unlike other reviewers I have never been that enamored of the film noir genre and so missing it probably was not that serious a sin of omission. But if you think about the matter a bit when you put a serious star like Barbara Stanwyck (she of that ankle bracelet shot coming down the stairs in Billy Wilder’s screen adaptation of James M. Cain’s Double Indemnity which was enough to hook Walter, a convenient insurance salesman,  and lead him down the garden path, lead him to a couple of well-placed slugs in the gut too), gruff Paul Douglas, 1950s handsome Robert Ryan, and upcoming world icon Marilyn Monroe with top rank noir director Fritz Lang (think The Big Heat where Glenn Ford takes down a whole corrupt operation almost single-handedly) and a screenplay based on a hot shot playwright Clifford Odets (he of Golden Boy and Waiting For Lefty) you are bound to produce a great cinematic effort. Plus place the whole thing in olden days post-World War II Monterey out in California when that town produced oodles of sardines-and John Steinbeck- and there you are.    

The strongest part of this effort is the emotions that the interplay between the various lead players bring out in a story line that is frankly about ordinary people, their ordinary dreams, and their extraordinary passions and predilections. Those emotions get carried forth, create the clash of the title, in some of the strongest dialogue that I have seen produced in film about the travails of people who are pretty lost in their own small world. Let me explain that idea via a look at the plot-line something I have been doing more recently with older films that I have reviewed.      

Mae, played by Ms. Stanwyck, has come home to working class Monterey after having been out in the big wide world and gotten her younger dreams crushed. She is now world weary and wary. She returns to her small family home where her brother, a commercial fisherman, remember old-time Monterey was the sardine capital of the world, is enthralled by Peggy, played by Marilyn Monroe, who is a lot more forgiving about the fate of a lost sister than he brother who nevertheless lets her stay. While keeping a low profile as something of a home body her brother’s boat captain, Jerry, played by gruff and throaty Paul Douglas, a regular stiff comes a-courting. After a while, succumbing to a strong desire to have somebody take care of her, to be settled she accepts Jerry’s offer of marriage. Even in accepting Jerry’s proposal though she warned him that she was spoiled goods.           

Things go along for a while with Jerry and Mae, about a year, during which they have a child, a baby girl, but Mae begins to get the wanderlust, begins to get antsy around the very ordinary and plebian Jerry. Enter Earl, or rather re-enter Earl, Jerry’s friend, who had been interested in Mae from day one when Jerry introduced them. He, in the meantime, was now divorced and takes dead aim at Mae. And she takes the bait, falls hard for the fast-talking cynical Earl. They plan for Mae to fly the coop with the baby and a new life. Not so fast though once they confront Jerry with their affair, with his being cuckolded. This is where the dialogue gets right down to basics. Mae gives Jerry what’s what about her and Earl, about her needs. Jerry, blinders off, builds up a head of steam and in another scene almost kills Earl before he realized what he was doing.

This is the “pivot.” Jerry takes the baby on his boat. Mae suddenly realizes that the baby means more to her than Earl who as it turned out didn’t give a rat’s ass about the child. Having been once bitten though when Mae goes to Jerry to seek reconciliation he is lukewarm but as she turns to leave he relents. Maybe they can work things out, or at least that is the look on Mae’s face when she is brought back into the fold at the end of the film.  You really have to see this film to get a sense of the raw emotions on display, and on the contrary feelings each character has about his or her place in the sun. Nicely done Fritz and crew, nicely done.